


The Life of An Immortal?

by EchoTuran



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pitch Black (2000), Riddick (2013), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick Series, X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Multiple Crossovers, Will Add Tags Crossovers and Characters as they appear in story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:28:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23223289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoTuran/pseuds/EchoTuran
Summary: Arch always knew she and her family would live long lives, what with being almost immortal and all. However, the last thing she expected was for them to end up crash survivors on a desert planet. With a convict that's feral enough to give Victor a run for his money and monsters that are ready to eat them all alive, she and the other survivors have to figure out a way off this planet before they end up food for the only other life forms there. (I suck at synopsis guys just bare with me here)
Relationships: Richard B. Riddick/Original Female Character
Comments: 34
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1: The Crash

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know I should be posting a new chapter of Soulmates Through Time and any readers who have read that and are disappointed with me I am so sorry, but my BF is entirely to blame for encouraging this one. I made the mistake of reading a Riddick/Harry Potter Crossover a week and a half ago and it got me imagining throwing Logan, Laura and Victor along with my OC into the verse and how they would interact with Riddick on Hades. Being the enthusiastic person he is, my bf listened to my idea and helped me run with it by bouncing ideas back and forth about how I could write it as well as the other possible crossovers I could bring into it. This crossover will eventually include quite a bit of the Marvel Cinematic Universe world at least in the distant, distant future sense along with bringing in worlds such as Star Wars, Aliens vs Predator and even the DC universe. Anyway I really wish for feed back on this one and hopefully I can appease the muse for this for a little while in order to get back to writing the next chapter for Soulmates. 
> 
> I would also like to point out this is an AU as well as my own interpretation of characters, anything that those don't believe would work for a character or would work in a different way is entirely irrelevant. I am writing this characters the way I believe they would be written in the situations they are put in and therefore are in their own sense already OOC simply by being in the situation to begin with. I appreciate any and all comments, but any comments that are straight up flames will be ignored and brushed aside as nothing more than immature children thinking they can control how I write. To all those who leave wonderful comments and even comments with polite suggestions shall be responded to with cheer and a smile. I appreciate criticism, but I don't like people just being assholes to be assholes.

While Arch had always known she and her family would live a very long time, she had honestly never believed they would live thousands of years. They had lived to see the Earth become barren and abandoned as the humans of Earth left their home planet to join into Intergalactic relations and travel. It had been difficult for the four of them at first, travelling while trying to stay hidden, only to learn that hiding wasn’t necessary. Mutants were far more accepted out in space than back on Earth. In fact they were treated as a normality instead of an oddity, to the point Arch didn’t even have to send out a mental suggestion to hide her wings any longer. 

Yet, she and her brothers along with Laura continued to travel from planet to planet like they had traveled from town to town from city to city back on Earth. They had recently boarded onto the ship named the Hunter-Gratzner and would be placed into Cryo-pods for the foreseeable future while the ship travelled to Helion Prime. They were going there in hopes of finding some better labor jobs for the boys to work while Laura and Arch were hoping to find a decent place to live for a bit. 

Arch’s wings fluttered behind her as she placed her vibranium case into the bottom of her Cryo-pod, her long blonde hair sweeping over either shoulder. She had managed to put a suggestion into the crew to make them believe the packs her and her family handed over were the only luggage they had. The Vibranium case was the only thing she would never let leave her sight. It carried all of her most precious possessions, as few as they were, as well as the Stark Phone and nanotech Gauntlet that had FRIDAY in them. As she stowed it where it would be hidden even while she slept, she was nearly knocked into her pod when a blonde man stormed past her to the pod diagonally to the right and across from hers. She glared at the man, holding her hand out to stop Logan from skewering the man, though Victor and Laura growled under their breaths at him. 

It was then she took notice of the Cryo-pod across from hers that had a lot of tape across it stating no early wake up for the occupant and labeling them as a dangerous criminal. However, it was the surface thoughts she could hear that drew her interest. The man inside, even though he was already supposed to be locked into Cryo-sleep, was thinking rapidly about the scents and voices around him. He had already catalogued her and her family as predators among prey and seemed quite interested in the unique combination of things in her own scent. She quickly forced herself to look away however, when the blonde man from before started eyeing her suspiciously. She turned quickly to Logan to have a seemingly normal conversation with him while mentally informing her family of her suspicions of the supposed criminal. 

Logan easily told her not to worry about the criminal, he wasn’t their problem after all, and to prepare for the pretend sleep they would have to go into. Rolling her eyes, Arch glanced at the pod across from hers once more before climbing in and allowing the pod to do its job. She and her family of course weren’t going to be sleeping like the rest of the passengers during the trip, with how their healing factors worked none of them could stay in Cryo sleep like most people could. Arch sighed as she shifted in her pod and settled back while her wings twitched slightly at the chill that filled the air around her. She let her eyes watch the pod across from hers for a short time before finally allowing herself to slip into a light doze at Laura’s silent poke to her mind. 

Riddick listened as the other passengers around him moved into their pods to prepare for the long trip. Johns had gone to reassure himself that nothing was going to happen to his pod while in his own Cryo sleep, leaving the Furyan to gather information on the passengers in silence. He’d already clocked a Muslim man and three young boys with him, as well as a pair of prospectors who he believed were most likely a married pair if the argument he’d caught bits of was any indication. However, it was the family of four that were across from his own pod that drew his attention. 

All four of them reeked of predatory intent. They functioned and moved about almost like a pack of wolves, circling around each other while getting ready to settle into their pods. He’d already picked out that the male he heard with the gruffest voice was definitely the Alpha, all of them turning to him for confirmation and guidance to what they should do, but to his surprise the second male didn’t appear to be the beta of their little group. No, instead it was one of the two females. 

Riddick couldn’t see her, but he could hear her move about, setting a case of some sort at the bottom of her pod right across from his. When she would move and shift there was the sound of what he believed was feathers, shifting and moving, large appendages stretching as she went about her task. She carried the scent of a forest fresh from a storm with the lingering scent of smoke from a campfire and the overwhelming scent of fresh air and feathers. It was an odd combination of smells for one woman, which made her all the more intriguing. He almost wished he could get a look at her with his own eyes, see how she would appear in his own unique vision, but that wasn’t going to happen. It didn’t keep him from wondering how she seemed to be the Beta of the little pack of predators. While she didn’t sound like most of the weak sniveling human females he’d met in the past, she didn’t seem to carry herself in a way that would intimidate those around her. 

Or she didn’t until he heard Johns return and practically knock the woman into her pod as she finished settling whatever metal case she’d snuck into her pod. He heard her straighten swiftly and the sounds of large wings fluttering and feathers ruffling as she did so. A hand smacking a solid chest and two twin growls from the other two pack members was the only indication that the rest of her family were angered by Johns’ treatment towards her. Now she carried an air of absolute menace about her and yet she made not a sound nor a move to retaliate. Instead she settled her pack with a mere relaxing of her stance and turned slightly. 

Riddick instantly registered the feeling of being examined and scrutinized, allowing him to realize the woman had turned to look at him. He could feel her eyes run over him and his pod for several moments, before she swiftly turned with the sound of her wingtips sweeping the ship's floor. He listened to the soft mutterings of the woman speaking to the Alpha of her little pack, keeping him calm even though he very clearly still wanted to go after Johns. Yet at the same time Riddick suddenly felt like he had the whole family’s attention as she spoke to them, as if she had subtly instructed them to examine him and yet he had not heard any signs of movements that revealed she had. 

It was a little unnerving to have the attention of four feral type humans on him, but at the same time Riddick couldn’t help but feel a little thrilled that there appeared to be others who were even slightly like himself. He’d have to keep an ear out for them while they slept, see if there were any interesting things he could learn while they were travelling. He inwardly smirked as he listened to the sound of the winged woman climb into her pod and begin to settle back into sleep. 

  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Page Breaks Are Fun~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  


Arch and her family were in and out of sleep a lot during the weeks they were aboard the transport, but remained in their pods for most of it. She didn’t know how many weeks they were on the transport, but she does know when she was suddenly woken by panicked thoughts from what she recognized to be two of the crew members. She saw the flashing lights outside and quickly pulled the release on her pod and dropped out. She practically stumbled into the pod across from hers as she started jolting awake her family. Logan was the first out practically launching himself out of the pod, closely followed by Laura and finally Victor. 

‘What’s going on?’ Laura inquired, looking to Arch as she steadied herself against the convict pod as the ship jolted. 

‘We’re crashing and fast, the Captain is dead and the docking pilot and the navigator are currently working to keep us from all dying. Logan, Victor, I saw a man board with three young boys, find their pods and stick close in case the kids need assistance getting out when we finally hit ground. Laura, I heard a stowaway in one of the pods, I’ll direct you to her. Keep her safe and make sure she doesn’t panic when she wakes up.’ Arch instructed quickly, barely avoiding hitting the convicts emergency release as she stumbled again, ‘I’m going up to the crew to see if I can help out.’ 

Logan and Victor shot off down the row of passengers, while Laura followed Arch’s mental instructions to where the Stowaway was located. Arch watched them go for a moment before cursing as the ship jerked hard and she knocked her head against the convicts glass. She heard the man inside the pod thinking rapidly, his curiosity over four random passengers being awake before they should be filling her head, but she quickly pushed those to the back of her mind and spread her wings to balance herself as she made her way to where she could hear the navigator shouting at the docking pilot. 

She narrowed her eyes as she approached the crew area, seeing the doors that would seal off the crew from the rest of the ship closing before her. Then she focused on the docking pilot’s thoughts and nearly scrambled the bitches brains when she realized she was thinking of purging the passengers. Taking off at a run towards the closed doors Arch phased through the sealed doors scaring the hell out of the navigator as he was moving towards the doors. He seemed to recover quickly and grabbed a piece of loose metal and began prying the doors open. Arch immediately helped him making sure it was jammed in there tight once he settled it. 

“What the hell Owens!” The docking Pilot screamed down at them from the cockpit. 

“You have seventy seconds to level this beast Fry!” The navigator, Owens, shouted back, moving away from the doors. 

Arch followed him, her wings and arms out to steady herself while the ship jerked and jolted. It got worse the longer it took the pilot and Arch grabbed a hold of the navigator as she could hear the ship tearing apart as it dragged across the planet's ground. One final jolt sent both of them flying causing Arch to wrap herself around the man and her wings to curl him in close. She felt something stab through her back causing her to release him as they were thrown around and felt the blood flow down her front as the object punctured through her chest. She came to settle on the floor as the ship finally stopped and choked softly as she felt blood fill her lungs, before her mind faded to black. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally gonna wait for at least one comment on chapter 1 before I posted the next bit I had written up, but honestly I'm too eager to get this stuff out there so XD here we go chapter 2 of "The Life of An Immortal?" leave kudos and remember comments and creative criticism is appreciated, but flames are childish and will be ignored and laughed at like I'm some mad scientist in a B rated scifi movie.

Logan and Victor dug themselves out of the wreckage they became buried in and swiftly moved to assist the other passengers they could hear moving around. He easily helped the prospector woman over some of the ship as he saw her stumble, receiving a grateful nod from the man with her. Victor had moved to help the holy man and his boys who had luckily not been buried too deeply under wreckage. 

“Logan! Come help me cut this thing open!” Laura called, causing him to swiftly move towards her voice. The Prospectors followed him, pulling torches from their belts, but stopped when they noticed the two metal claws coming from Laura’s right hand. 

Logan unsheathed his own on his left and helped claw the edges of the turned pod. Once they did they both gripped it and yanked allowing the stowaway to tumble out and stare up at them wide-eyed as their claws sheathed.    
“I’m guessing something went wrong?” The kid asked. Their voice and appearance were pretty boyish and if Arch hadn’t referred to them as a her, Logan would’ve thought it was a boy laying on the ground. 

“That’s an understatement. Come on kid.” Laura said, huffing as she hauled the girl to her feet. 

“WE NEED HELP UP HERE!” A voice shouted, causing all of them to swiftly move towards the cockpit. 

Logan was in the lead as he entered where the Navigator was supposed to be located only to stop dead as he saw both the Navigator and the Docking Pilot leaning over a limp form. The large wings were a dead give away and he sighed loudly as he saw the long rod protruding from her chest. 

“What do we do?” The blonde woman, docking Pilot if he wasn’t mistaken, asked the brunette man across from her. 

“Pull it out!” Laura called, stepping up beside Logan as she took notice of Arch. 

“It’s too close to her heart, I just don’t understand how she’s even still breathing!” The Navigator shot back. 

“Move it!” Logan commanded, pushing the man out of the way as he knelt down and gripped the rebar. 

The docking pilot shouted at him to stop, but he ignored her and yanked the metal out of Arch’s chest in one swift movement. Both of them were sprayed with blood as it was removed and the woman jerked back in surprise as she stared at him like he was insane. 

“Why would you do that? We could’ve found some sedatives and made her passing at least painless!?” The woman demanded. 

“Just shut up and watch!” Logan growled, dropping the rod as the group watched, most of them waiting for the woman’s gurgling breaths to stop. 

However, after several moments those close enough who didn’t know the injured female gasped as they watched the open wound in her chest close up and seal, before she jerked up with a gasp and her dark gray eyes snapped open.    
“Oh, fuck! I hate when that happens!” Arch gasped, bringing a hand to her chest and wiping at the blood uselessly. 

“Yeah, don’t we all.” Logan replied, grabbing her arm and dragging her to her feet. 

“That was cool.” The Stowaway muttered, receiving incredulous looks from the none mutants on the ship. 

“But hurts like a bitch, and no it can’t be taught so don’t attempt it.” Arch replied. 

“That would’ve been me.” The Navigator said suddenly, making Logan and Arch turn to him. 

“Yeah well I’m glad it wasn’t, the last thing I want is a docking pilot who was ready to drop all of the passengers just to save her own ass being left in charge.” Arch commented, making all of the survivors turn and stare at the other blonde woman. 

The woman shrunk back from them and avoided their eyes, while Arch glared her down.    
“I may have no reason to worry about me and my family if you dropped us, but there were children in that passenger hold and if you think for one second I’m gonna let you live down the fact you nearly killed them while they slept you are mistaken Fry!” Arch snarled, her wings puffing up with her anger, before she turned on her heel and stalked towards where the pods had been located, “Laura come help me get FRIDAY!” 

“Right behind you!” Laura called, following after her aunt, with the stowaway close behind. 

“There’s another person in there?” The prospector woman called after them. 

“Not exactly!” Arch called back. 

‘Logan, get everyone else out of the ship, we gotta figure out our situation.’ Arch instructed silently. He gave her a mental nod and turned to all of those left. 

“Alright boys and girls, let's get outside and see how bad things are.” Logan instructed. 

“And who put you in charge?” A blonde man demanded. 

He was the same man that had nearly knocked Arch into her pod before they had taken off from dock weeks ago. He had piercing blue eyes and wore a blue uniform that seemed to make him look almost like a cop, but Logan knew better and he knew that this man wasn’t going to get the leading role he was hoping for.    
“The fact that I have survived many situations and environments that’s what, but if you wanna go rounds about who’s top dog here, by all means-” Logan cut himself off and stared at the man. 

“Me and Fry are the remaining crew members, I’ll make decisions for the group.” The Navigator said standing up and moving to stand beside Logan. 

“I’m Greg Owens, the Navigator, if you know how to keep us alive until we can find communications or a ship to get off this planet, then by all means take point on this.” Owens said, holding his hand out to Logan. 

Logan took it and nodded at the man. 

“I’m Logan Howlett, this is my brother Victor. Me and my family are survivalists I guess you could say, so we can keep the group going until we get out of here.” Logan replied. 

“Well then Logan, we’ll follow your lead for now.” Owens agreed easily, ignoring the huff from Fry that he received for handing over control. 

“No offense, but I just watched you pull a metal bar out of one of your families chest and watched her walk away as if it was an everyday occurance, why should any of us trust you?” The blonde man from before demanded. 

“That woman protected me when we finally hit the planet. If not for her, I’d be the one dead, so I think I’ll throw my lot in with them thanks.” Owens shot back glaring at the man. 

“He’s right, we may not know much, but it’s clear we’re all stuck here so we all need to get along for a while.” The prospector woman said. 

Logan nodded at them and moved to leave the ship. 

“First things, first let’s see if a scouting party is even worth it, though if I had to guess thanks to our pilot it’ll be pointless to look for survivors other than ourselves.” Victor stated, stepping up beside Logan. 

“Taking a shot at the only one who can get us off this rock isn’t going to help things.” A man with glasses stated. 

“No but quite frankly I don’t give a shit. The bitch tried to drop us all in our sleep and wouldn’t have even regretted it most likely so I have little care for her feelings.” Victor shot back, moving to leave the ship. 

**  
  
**

Arch left behind the group in the crew area and hopped her way over wreckage and debris to where her pod used to be. Laura was behind her, both of them taking notice of the now empty convict pod, but paying it no mind. No convict was a threat to them. She began moving debris off her pod and sighed as she saw the vibranium and adamantium laced case still in it. 

“Let’s get you out of there Friday.” Arch muttered, moving the case to sit on some metal and brushed her thumbs across each corner of the case. 

“Vocal password?” A mechanical voice asked as the case lit up with deep purple lines. 

“Honey-bear.” Arch responded softly. 

“Vocal recognition acknowledged; Hello Miss Arch.” The voice stated again. 

The case hissed and popped open easily and she flipped the top up to reveal a stash of items. Many old time pictures and a few items such as some sort of stuffed animal was inside the case making Arch smile as she looked over some of the pictures for a moment. She quickly refocused on her task and reached in to grab out the hot rod red gauntlet that sat inside as well as an almost paper thin device. 

“Time to wake up Fri, we got ourselves in trouble again.” Arch said as she handed the thin device to Laura and put the gauntlet on her left hand before shutting the case again. 

“I am up and operational Miss.” A female voice with an Irish lilt to it came from the device in Laura’s hand. 

“Wow! Your box can talk.” A voice said, making both women turn to the stowaway.    
“She’s not a box, she’s an AI and that is the device her whole brain is stored in. Friday, say hello.” Arch instructed adjusting the gauntlet and smiling as it went from covering just her hand to spreading down her arm up to her elbow. The little nanites crawling across her skin from the main store house in the gauntlet made her shiver a bit, but she didn’t flinch. 

“Hello, young miss. I am FRIDAY, Miss Arch’s personal AI and protector.” Friday greeted, making the young stowaway tense. 

Arch smiled at the young girl as she saw her tense and grabbed up Friday’s device before hooking it onto the forearm of her gauntlet sleeve. 

“Don’t worry kid, we’re not gonna tell anyone that you’re a girl. Now what’s your name?” Arch asked, handing the case to Laura as Friday pulled up a hologram of the scans she was already doing of the environment outside the ship. 

“Jack.” The girl replied. 

“Well Jack, I’m Arch and this is Laura. Why don’t we go see what my brother’s have convinced the others into doing while we were gone, huh?” Arch inquired, moving to the girl and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. 

They made their way down from the upper floor of the ship and towards one of the torn openings when Arch paused at the sight of the convict from before tied up to a metal beam. 

“Well that was dumb.” Laura stated, seeing the same thing she did. 

“Indeed you think that Merc would’ve known better than to leave him unattended.” Arch agreed, but made no move towards the man. He was an interesting mystery that called to her, but right now the priority was figuring out how to get the fuck off this planet. 

“Merc? What Merc?” Jack curiously asked, looking between the two women. 

“The blonde one dressed up like a cop, Sugar. Don’t trust a word that comes from him, he’s less trustworthy than the docking pilot who tried to drop us.” Arch explained, turning and continuing to lead them out into the scorching heat outside. 

She released Jack as she stepped outside and stared at the two suns she could see. 

“Well that’s just great, no wonder it’s so hot.” Laura muttered. 

“What are you talking about, I feel fine.” Arch said with a smirk and avoiding the fist Laura threw at her arm. The blonde giggled as she twirled away and quickly took to the air, leaving Jack with Laura. 

“Logan status report!” Arch called as she saw him up on top of what was left of the ship. 

“We’re just about to go to the cargo hold that landed nearby to see if we can find anything that we can drink or any food in case of long term stay. I think our packs are in that one so hopefully we’ll have something to share amongst everyone.” Logan called back. 

They could’ve easily spoken through the mental link Arch constantly kept up, but none of them wanted to reveal their abilities more than they absolutely had to. It had already been revealed that Arch had her healing factor and Laura and Logan had shown their claws, the less people like that Merc knew about them the better it would be when they got off this rock. 

“Remember we got four kids amongst us, the young ones take priority, the adults can hold out longer to find proper water if we need to, the kids shouldn’t have to.” Arch instructed moving to fly towards the cargo hold that she could see Fry, the Merc and the survivor with glasses moving towards. 

She easily over took them with her wings and landed before the cargo hold, prying the door open by the time they reached her. 

“We’re not just looking for things to drink, try and find food if possible. We don’t know how long we could be stuck here.” Arch instructed, ignoring the glares she received from Fry and the Merc.    
“Of course, I’m Paris P. Ogilvie by the way.” The glasses man, Paris, introduced.    
“Arch.” She replied curtly, stepping inside the cargo hold and beginning her search for the packs she knew her family had. At least two of the packs they had carried provisions at all times while the other two carried a few changes of clothes for each of them. 

“What kind of name is Arch?” The Merc demanded.    
“It’s mine, what about you, I don’t see you introducing yourself.” Arch snapped back, moving through the cargo hold swiftly, Friday scanning the contents and eliminating any that weren’t the packs she sought. 

“Johns.” The Merc ground out between clenched teeth. Clearly the man wasn’t used to people not respecting him when he wore his little costume. 

“Well then Johns, why don’t you quit worrying about my strange name and start looking for something for us to drink.” Arch ordered, smirking as Friday dinged on her arm and pointed her towards the packs she was after.    
“I have us pretty much covered, but I’m gonna need receipts from everyone. It's my own personal stash.” Paris said, as he moved to an ancient egyptian sarcophagus and pushed it open to reveal bottles upon bottles of alcohol. 

“I don’t suppose this helps you any?” 

Arch turned to see who Fry was talking to and saw the Holy man and one of his boys up at the top of the cargo entrance.    
“No, we cannot drink while we are on our hajja. We will just have to wait until we find water.” The man said. 

“Nonsense. I got water right here.” Arch said, reaching into one of the packs she had grabbed and pulling out a large water bottle. She made her way up to the man and held it out to the boy behind him with a smile. 

“We couldn’t possibly. You need the water as well.” The man said. 

_ “Nonsense. You have three young boys with you and you yourself cannot drink any of the alcohol available. I have already instructed my family that the children are the first priority, but since you are the only adult who can not drink the only other liquid available you will now fall under the same as them. Now, here.”  _ Arch said, having switched to Arabic as she held the water out to the boy once more. 

_ “You understand us!”  _ The boy exclaimed excitedly. 

_ “I do indeed young one, now I have a few more bottles here, take them for the other boys and be sure to let them know to not drink it too quickly, we still need to find a main source to refill them.”  _ She instructed grabbing two more bottles out of the pack and handing them to the boy. 

“Thank you, you truly are a blessing from Allah. I am Abu Al-Walim, but you may call me Imam.” The man introduced himself before directing to the oldest boy as the other two joined, “This is Suleiman, and my other two are Hassan and the youngest is Ali.” 

“I'm Angelia Howlett, but just call me Arch. And I’m not a blessing, I’m just making sure you and your boys will be okay in the heat for a while longer.” Arch said with a dismissive wave at his thanks and praise, moving to step past them and back outside, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have one more teen to get hydrated before we figure out a group to go searching for a water source.” 

Arch stepped back outside, the packs gripped in her hands and took to the sky once more to fly back to the ship wreck. She spotted Jack by the two prospectors and quickly landed beside them.    
“How’s that, better?” The woman prospector was asking Jack as the girl was taking a shot from an air tank device. Jack smiled and nodded. Arch hadn’t even realized that the air was different here, she and her family acclimated to environments so quickly that they didn’t realize when they were different from most planets. 

“Jack, I got some water for you kid, but don’t drink it too quickly this is all we got other than Paris’ alcohol stash.” Arch said as she stepped forward and pulled out a final large water bottle from the same pack as before. 

The young girl lit up at the promise of water and happily took it, while Arch turned to the female prospector.    
“I’m Arch by the way, how’s the O2 tanks coming along?” She asked casually as the curly, dark haired woman smiled at her.    
“I’m Shazza, and that’s Zeke, I think I can rig up enough harnesses for everyone, but we’ll have to be careful with the supply with how many of us there are.” The woman, Shazza replied. 

“Don’t worry about me and my family, we acclimate quickly to new environments. To be honest I don’t think we would’ve realized the air was different here if any of you weren’t having issues with it.” Arch said, receiving a nod from Shazza. 

“That should make the O2 supply last a little longer than.” She muttered. 

“Good, anyway me and Friday can help, I may not be skilled in engineering on a grand scale, but I do have some experience in putting things together?” Arch asked. 

“Friday? Is that the other woman in your family?” Zeke asked as he stood beside Shazza.    
“No, that’s Laura, this is Friday.” Arch said holding up the gauntlet to show them and watching their eyes widen as it lit up with a small holographic blue sphere.    
“Hello Ms. Shazza, Mr. Zeke. I am Friday.” Friday greeted, making Jack grin. 

“An AI! Does she have communications?!” Shazza asked excitedly. 

“Unfortunately no, but if we can find a ship with the capabilities of communications I can hook her into it and she can begin working on getting a message out for pick up.” Arch replied. 

“Well then I guess for now we should focus on getting these tank harnesses done.” Shazza said with an understanding nod. 

They worked swiftly, getting the O2 tanks attached to harnesses and passing them out as people came to get them. Arch helped Suleiman into his own harness when he came to get one while Shazza was helping Imam. Little Ali was next to his oldest brother and Arch smiled at him as she gave him a hit of the O2 from Suleiman’s tank. She hadn’t been around kids long term since the closing of the Professor’s school. She missed being around kids, they had a wonder about the world that adults lacked and it made this whole situation seem less terrible. She never made mention of the fact their tied up convict had slipped his restraints, if the man wanted any of them dead she would’ve scrambled his brains by now along with the Merc, so she deemed him as no immediate threat. 

It was as she was hooking Hassan up with his own tank that Johns came running from the main ship. She’d seen him, Fry and Paris return with several bottles of alcohol a few minutes ago, but now the man seemed frantic. He must have realized his personal boogey man had gotten away while he’d left him unattended. 

“What’s going on?” Fry called as Johns ran a ways off from the ship and picked up what Arch recognized as the convicts bit piece that had been in his mouth. 

The mercenary came rushing back cursing up a storm. 

“Riddick got free.” Johns growled, making Arch perk up at the name. She’d heard that name before. With how often her family travelled they often heard about the major bounties hunters wanted to collect on and Riddick was a name she’d heard multiple times in passing. No wonder Johns wanted the man alive so bad, he wasn’t just a simple pay day, he’d keep the morphine addicted merc supplied for months if he got that pay. 

“Well maybe if you were that worried about it, you shouldn’t have left him unattended.” Laura commented as she stalked past Johns with Jack on her heels. 

Johns practically snarled at her comment and moved towards her only to be obstructed by Logan as he stepped in the man’s way. 

“She’s right. Besides, if he’s really as murderous as you claim, why aren’t half of us dead yet?” Logan demanded glaring the man down. That had the whole group relaxing from the tense atmosphere a bit. 

“Maybe because he’s wants something from you, maybe because he just wants to skull fuck you, who knows what he’s thinking.” Johns snapped back, glaring at Logan in turn. That had the whole group tensing up again while Johns moved to the ship and disappeared for several moments. 

Arch glared after the man as she moved to stand next to Logan. The man was easy to undermine, but he could just as easily hype up the fear factor for the rest of the group. She watched as Johns returned with a pistol and handed it to Zeke making Arch tense up. That was dangerous, putting fear into regular civilians and then handing them a dangerous weapon was begging for someone to get shot. She barely listened as the group discussed heading out to search for water before nightfall only to discover that there was a blue sun that rose from the direction of sunrise as the two other suns were setting. 

‘You and Victor go with the group to search for a water source, Laura and I will stay here in case Zeke gets too jumpy and takes a shot he shouldn’t at someone who doesn’t deserve it.’ Logan suggested silently. 

‘Don’t let him shoot Riddick either. The man may be a murderer, but if what I’m getting from the drugged up merc is correct, then he has only ever killed people who have tried to kill him which means I think the worst thing he might do to the normal civilians is not save their lives if they end up in dangerous situations. He’s a survivor like us Logan and his freedom seems to be his top priority, so as long as we don’t make ourselves a threat I don’t think he will make us a target.’ Arch replied, glancing up at him. 

‘Don’t worry, I have a feeling the man is craftier than Johns is letting on and won’t be at the receiving end of any weapons unless we catch him off guard. He’ll most likely be watching one of the groups while we’re separated so Laura and I will just keep a close eye on things and we’ll keep Jack close by just in case.’ 

Arch nodded to him and turned as Johns called to her demanding her attention. 

“Come on, Birdy, your wings are perfect for scouting ahead so get up in the air and search ahead of us!” Johns demanded. 

“How bout you take that gun of yours and shove it up your ass! You don’t command me, asshole and the next time you think you can I’ll show you exactly what it’s like to have your tongue shoved down your own throat!” Arch snarled as her wings flared out angrily, causing the merc to take a step back. 

“You’re lucky I already intended to do exactly what you suggested otherwise I’d do exactly as I promised on principle alone.” Arch growled as she waved for Victor to join the group. 

“I’ll stick with Imam and the boys, Tweety. You go ahead and keep your pretty eyes out for water.” Victor said smirking as he passed Johns to where Imam stood wide-eyed with his boys. The children hadn’t understood Arch, but her tone had said she wasn’t happy and had them glancing at her in concern. 

“I apologize for the language Imam, I’m sure the children don’t need to be learning those kind of words in Common.” Arch said with a sheepish smile as she carefully took to the air and hovered above the group gathering. 

Imam recovered and smiled at the blonde. 

“Worry not my child, I just hope with you up in the air we are able to find a source of water quickly.” Imam replied. 

“If there’s a water source to be found or a settlement to be seen, I’ll find it for us.” She assured with a grin. With that the group headed out and Arch took to the sky, Victor keeping her up to date on what was being discussed in the group below her. 

**  
  
  
**

Riddick had freed himself all too easily and taken off in the direction of sunrise after leaving his bit for Johns to find. It had been interesting to hear the winged woman who’d been in front of his pod commenting about knowing what Johns was, but he’d have to wait to investigate that interesting tidbit further. He left his bit piece in the direction of sunset and quickly took off in the direction of sunrise. Discovering there were three suns made him curse a bit, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He continued forward leaving behind the shipwreck and eventually finding a large boneyard. 

It was filled with giant skeletons of creatures he couldn’t name. Knowing he only had a limited amount of time before Johns figured out his direction and caught up to his location, Riddick found a few long rib bones for smaller skeletons and used a stone to begin weedling them into Shivs. He hid away in one of the larger skeletons' empty eye sockets while he made the shivs. It wasn’t long after that, that he heard the distant sounds of children laughing as they hurried toward the boneyard. The sound of large wings beating through the air, had him quickly crouching down where he was and pulling his goggles down to his eyes, he peeked out into the sky above. 

He saw the pink outline of a female humanoid, with large wings beating behind her as she swooped through the air. He immediately knew this was the Beta female of that predator pack back at the ship. It seemed Johns wasn’t as dumb as he thought if the man made sure to drag along someone who had the ability of getting a birds eye view. She didn’t appear very interested in the boneyard however, quickly moving past it as he heard the sounds of the searching group moving amongst the skeletons. He was preparing to move down into the shadows of the skeleton he resided in when something swept down and landed on the skeleton's spine. 

“You see anything Arch!” A male voice called as Riddick heard someone walk closer. He recognized the voice as one of the Males in the Pack. 

“Nothing yet, Imma give my wings a minute before taking off again.” The woman, Arch called back from just behind him. 

Riddick kept perfectly still as he heard the man walk away and he heard the woman shift around. 

“You really are good, I’ll give you that.” Her voice reached him as a whisper making him tense. 

“Victor didn’t even sense you, and normally he can pick up on things like that even when you’re up wind from him.” Arch continued moving until she was able to stand at the top of the skull. 

“And yet you found me.” He rumbled, tightening his hand on his finished shiv. 

“Well it helps that I have the ability to see from above.” She replied, sounding amused. 

“So now what?” Riddick demanded, pulling his goggles down and turning enough to glance at the woman. 

“Nothing really, I just figured I’d give you a warning. I get you are probably going to go back to the crash sight and try to retrieve one of the O2 tanks the others have, but if I discover you harm anyone back at that ship, especially the kid, I will gut you and strangle you with your own entrails.” She said calmly, staring straight at him. 

Now that was interesting. She had no intentions of capturing him for Johns. Even seemed to be willing to let him return where the helpless civilians were and steal some of their O2 supply. 

“Why?” He asked, curious over the situation getting the better of him. 

“Because I get wanting to survive and honestly I don’t believe half the stories about you let alone anything Johns spouts. Don’t get me wrong I know you are a killer, but so is my whole family, so we have no room to judge. But I also won’t let you just wander around without at least a warning. Most of the people at the crash are innocent civilians who just want to get off this planet alive so take what you want without hurting them and get the hell out without getting caught.” She replied, before turning at the sound of a young boy calling out to her. 

“And if I decide to not take the warning?” He asked, pulling her attention back to him. 

“Then as I said, I will gut you and strangle you with your own entrails.” 

He didn’t get a chance to respond before she took to the air once more, gliding over the skeletons towards the boy who had called her. Riddick smirked slightly at the fact she had actually had the gall to threaten him. He couldn’t even be mad, since he had no doubt she could actually follow through with her threat if he didn’t heed her warning. ‘Well Pretty Bird, I think it will be quite interesting to see what you can do.’ He thought to himself, before ducking down into the shadows of the large skeleton he stood in to wait for Johns to come by. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this a few days ago, but my BF is an ass and I got to pissed off to think about posting, but anyway here we are Chapter 3 enjoy!

Laura watched as the scouting group headed out, before turning to Shazza who was recruiting Jack’s help with something. She followed the two back into the ship, while Paris moved to sit upon the top of the remaining ship to be a look out for their killer. Laura had no doubt the convict would come back to try and take one of the O2 tanks so with Johns having given Zeke a gun, her and Logan would have to keep a close eye out so he didn’t end up shooting anyone. Zeke was moving to dig up a grave for their dead captain, who’s body had managed to not be lost during the crash. That left Laura with Jack and Shazza while Logan prowled around outside. 

It was times like this that Laura was grateful that Arch kept a constant link between all their minds even when she wasn’t with them. It made the arrival of new footsteps after thirty minutes of work less stressful. Shazza and Jack had tensed and Laura immediately warned Logan of the approaching person. She had already caught the person’s scent and they definitely weren’t the convict, but if Zeke saw them skulking towards them with Shazza unprotected it could end in the person’s death. Logan was already making his way back towards them prepared to cover the person’s back if Zeke came down trigger happy. 

It was as they moved to the entrance that a man who looked a little worse for wear stepped in and sighed in relief. 

“Oh thank god, I thought I was the only one who survived.” The man said, only to be cut off when running footsteps approached behind him and a gunshot went off. A body hit the ground and Jack screamed a little while the new survivor quickly ducked out of the way, revealing Logan lying with a hole in his chest. 

“I thought Riddick had come back, I didn’t mean to.” Zeke called from where he stood with a gun shaking in his hands. 

Laura stepped over Logan and moved to the shaken Prospector and carefully removed the gun from him. 

“Hey, it’s okay. Look.” Laura instructed, pulling him closer to where the others were watching the hole in Logan’s chest close up before he shot up like a spring board with a snarl. The others jumped back and Jack cried out in relief while Laura patted Zeke’s shoulder. 

“Arch isn’t the only one who has the ability to heal like she does. It’s a family trait. But this is why listening to Johns is dangerous. If the man was really that concerned for our safety he would’ve stayed to keep an eye out for the man himself. Instead he scared you enough that you shot without question, it’s why Logan and I stayed.” Laura explained calmly, while Logan brushed at the blood on his chest. 

“You saved my life.” The new survivor said with awe. 

“We knew giving a civilian a gun was dangerous especially with them being jumpy over a loose convict, but let’s be honest the man would’ve gone for you first Zeke.” Logan stated looking at the man. 

“What? Why?” Zeke demanded. 

“Because you were off on your own and in a place where he could’ve dragged you out of sight. It’s not like Paris is a great look out, he’d have been able to slip past him without being seen. If he was gonna come and kill us he’d have gone for you.” Laura explained. 

“Besides I don’t think the convict’s going to kill anyone. If he does come back he’ll most likely be after an O2 tank and as long as you give it to him and let him go with it, I don’t think he’ll have a reason to be killing anyone.” Logan stated, before turning to pull off his ruined tank top. 

The group relaxed a bit after that and Laura returned the gun to Zeke with the warning of not using it unless absolutely necessary even on the convict. Riddick was a killer sure, but Arch hadn’t scrambled his brains yet, which meant he wasn’t as murderous as Johns claimed. Arch would never let a threat to children continue to wander around, it was a wonder that she hadn’t dropped Johns yet honestly. The drugged up merc was more of a threat than Riddick could ever be. Killers were predictable, druggies weren’t. 

They all got back to work, Zeke even returning to finish burying the captain. The new addition to the group, James Lawson, had decided to help Logan patrol around the ship, thanking the gruff man profusely for stepping in to save his life. Laura returned to helping Shazza and Jack while Paris decided to sit nearby drinking his alcohol. Arch was giving them updates silently, apparently they had found an abandoned settlement that had a water pump and a skiff that needed fixing up. Laura filled her in on the events with Lawson and smiled to herself when Arch said they were on their way back to them. They worked silently for several minutes while Laura was talking with Arch, when suddenly screams and gunshots filled the air. 

“Zeke!” Shazza called taking off out of the ship and towards the spires in the distance. Laura shot after her with Jack on her heels, silently calling for Logan to make his way towards them. 

Laura just made it to where Zeke had been burying the captain and saw all the blood around a hole in the side when Shazza screamed in rage and took off. Laura looked up to see Riddick taking off through the spires, Shazza hot on his trail. The convict didn’t get far before Johns came out from behind a spire and smacked him in the head with his baton. The man hit the dirt hard and the merc wasted no time removing his goggles and kicking him brutally. Laura hurriedly caught up and stopped Shazza from doing the same as she heard the sound of rapid wing beats heading their way. 

Johns was just bringing back his baton to strike at the downed convict again when Arch came out of the sky and kicked him in the chest making him stumble back. The blonde landed in a crouch over the convict, feet on either side of his rib cage and her body twisted to glare at Johns while her wings spread out to shade the man's eyes from the harsh sun. 

“What the hell is the matter with you!? He attacked Zeke! Just Kill him!” Shazza screamed as Laura kept a hold of her. 

“Unless he’s capable of dragging your boyfriend down a hole while standing five feet away from him, he didn’t do anything!” Arch snarled, making the dark haired woman pause in her anger. 

“Something pulled Zeke down a hole, I don’t know what but I certainly didn’t see Riddick do it so get your shit together and go take a breather!” Arch ordered, not removing herself from her crouched position. 

Riddick was still dazed from the hits Johns had given him and the Merc looked ready to kick Arch just to keep him that way. Jack stood to the side wide eyed, practically curling into Logan as the man came up behind her. 

“Best move out of the way little girl, wouldn’t want the convict hurting you.” Johns growled at Arch, only to receive a very animalistic snarl from her. 

“And I say if you don’t put that baton away and back off I’m gonna take it and shove it so far up your ass you’ll be tasting plastic for months.” 

Victor joined them at that point a growl coming from his own throat as Johns moved to step closer. 

“You don’t want to do that, unless you like the idea of having a long stick shoved up your ass.” Victor warned. The merc looked between all of them swiftly. Shazza had sagged against Laura while she glared over the woman’s head at him. Logan had a hand on Jack who was still wide eyed and trying to hide it, while Victor and Arch both looked ready to pounce on the man at a moment's notice. Johns huffed and put away the baton before moving to leave. 

‘Victor, get the goggles.’ Arch instructed silently. He moved forward instantly and snatched Riddick’s goggles from Johns’ hand, making the man tense up before he realized what he was doing. 

Laura watched as Victor handed the goggles to Arch who took them while still glaring down Johns. In that instant the whole family knew what had just been silently decided in the blonde’s brain. Riddick was under her protection and if anyone attempted to harm the convict in anything but self defense, Arch would rip them asunder and leave little left to be put back together. 

‘We’ve really gotta stop letting her adopt people.’ Laura commented towards Logan. 

‘You try telling her that.’ Logan shot back, moving to steer the young girl next to him back to the ship with whispered words of comfort. 

‘I can hear you, you know.’ Arch’s voice rang in their heads only to receive smug mental smirks from both. She may be annoyed with their thoughts, but Laura knew they weren’t wrong. Arch had a tendency to adopt people and once she did she was damn possessive and protective of them like a lion with her cubs. 

  
  


Arch watched as Laura and Logan directed Shazza and Jack back towards the crash sight, Johns following behind them cursing under his breath. She was keeping Riddick dazed, though the man didn’t know that, as much as she believed in him getting his freedom despite being wanted she also understood letting him go would only make the group trust her and her family less. So instead of giving the goggles to the man, she slowly stood up, keeping her wing shading his eyes and moved to pull him to his feet a bit. 

“Victor give me a hand, we’ll have to chain him up for now just to give everyone else a sense of security.” Arch instructed as her other brother moved to grab the convicts other arm. 

“He’s just gonna escape again the moment we’re all busy.” Victor stated. 

“Johns will most likely have something figured out by the time we get him to the ship and will most likely want to keep his goggles from him.” 

Honestly Johns was starting to get on her nerves. The man had been maliciously preparing to beat on a man who was already pretty much down for the count. She could only guess what the Merc would be willing to do to someone who was even less capable of taking him in a fair fight. She shook the thought from her head for now and helped Victor drag the convict back to the ship and chain him up. Unlike Johns she knew better than to leave the man’s arms close to his body and chained his arms out almost like he was being crucified. They did however allow for him to sit down instead of making him stand. 

“I thought you didn’t care unless I hurt someone Pretty Bird?” Riddick’s voice reached her ears as she finished chaining him up. Victor moved away from the two not too concerned with the familiar way the man talked to her. 

“I don’t, but then you had to go and get your ass knocked out by the drugged up Merc, Big Bad. Can’t exactly just let you wander around right now with everyone afraid after what happened to Zeke. If you behave perhaps I can convince them to unchain you later.” Arch replied with a slight teasing lilt in her voice at the end. 

“You don’t think I did it?” The man inquired. 

“Like I told Shazza, unless you can stand five feet from him while he’s being dragged down a hole I know you didn’t do anything.” She replied easily. 

“Be careful Pretty Bird, it seems I’m not the thing you should be afraid of on this planet.” Riddick warned quietly. 

Arch was tempted to point out she wasn’t afraid of him at all, but it seemed kind of pointless since she knew the man knew that. She however, did take the warning to heart when it came to the unknown thing that had taken Zeke. It had clearly taken the body of the deceased captain and then when Zeke had investigated it had taken him, but the question was; what had taken him? She supposed they would have to figure it out soon.    
“Don’t worry about me, Big Bad, I can handle myself.” She replied before turning and heading out to where the others were gathering to discuss what to do next. 

Jack and Ali were the first two to spot her as she came out and the young girl was instantly on her. 

“You really don’t think Riddick did it?” Jack inquired. The girl tried to sound casual, but it failed as a slight hint of unease entered her voice. 

“I know he didn’t. Riddick didn’t touch Zeke, I saw where he was as I was flying back.” Arch replied, wrapping her gauntleted arm around the girl’s shoulder, while Ali came over and tucked himself under her other arm. The young boy greatly enjoyed that she and her family were capable of understanding him and had attached himself to her like a duckling while they had been checking out the abandoned settlement. 

“You are sure about that?” Shazza asked as they approached, her posture subdued after the lashing she’d received before. 

“Yes, Shazza, I promise you if he had done it I wouldn’t have been against ending him right where Johns had knocked him, but I’m not about to kill a man for a crime he didn’t actually commit.” Arch assured firmly, meeting the woman’s eyes. 

Shazza nodded to her and took a deep breath to try and steady herself. Arch had no doubt it wasn’t easy to handle this. Losing someone so suddenly to something you didn’t even see was hard, especially when there was an easy person to blame for that loss. But Riddick hadn’t done it and Arch wouldn’t let the other woman put the blame on him just because he was a wanted man. 

“Come on, I’m sure someone will want to go exploring that hole here soon especially since I’ve made it quite clear our resident convict isn’t the culprit behind this.” Arch said calmly, guiding the children to where she could see the others walking towards the cluster of spires. Shazza nodded and fell into step beside the three of them, carrying herself a little straighter with her jaw set. Arch had no doubt she’d break down eventually, but right now Shazza understood they needed to all keep their composure. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go guys a new Chapter and if any of my readers read my Soulmates story I would just like to let you know that I will be posting a new chapter no later than the 14th of this month. I have a bet to win with my boyfriend and I'll be damned if I don't win it. :P

Arch listened to Fry and Owens argue back and forth. She didn’t like the concept that Fry was so willing to send a young kid like Jack down the hole simply because she was small enough to fit. Owens was strongly against it, despite Jack trying to argue that she could do it, but Arch was getting to the point she didn’t want to risk Owens giving in to Fry. She glanced at her family and they all nodded at her silent suggestion. 

“Alright that’s enough!” Arch shouted, stepping forward and cutting off Fry’s own shouts, “I get we need to figure out what happened to Zeke, but sending a young kid down there isn’t going to do anything. I’ll go down and see if I find anything.” 

“You won’t fit with those wings of yours.” Fry argued with a glare. 

“My wings and healing factor are not the only unique things about me. I can also phase through solid objects, so I will fit.” Arch shot back, moving over to where Imam and Johns stood with some rope. 

Logan followed her over and took the rope from the Merc before turning to her. He wrapped the rope around her waist easily, tugging on it at the end to make sure it wasn’t too tight around her. She removed her gauntlet with Friday and handed it to him along with Riddick’s goggles, which she had slipped into her back pocket. As much as the nanites could repair quickly if there was something dangerous down there she didn’t want to risk any damage to Friday while they were trapped here nor risk dropping the convicts only form of eye protection. 

“Don’t worry, big brother, I’ll be back before you can worry too much.” Arch said with a smirk, patting Logan’s shoulder. 

“Little late for that Fire Bird.” Logan replied as she turned to the hole in the grave. 

She moved swiftly towards the hole, ignoring Fry’s grumblings and taking a flashlight from Paris as she passed the man. She made it so her wings would phase through the ground as she crawled into it, smirking at the gasps of shock she received from the others. She shivered slightly, it felt quite strange to have only a portion of her body to slip through solid objects as if they didn’t exist. Arch flicked on the flashlight as she crawled through the compacted tunnel, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the strong scent of blood and fear that filled it. There was an underlying scent of something else that she couldn’t quite make out over Zeke’s fear and blood, but it was obvious that something had grabbed the man, even if there she hadn’t seen the man at the edge of the grave there was no way Riddick could’ve fit through here quickly enough to shove him down this far. 

Arch eventually came out into a larger opening that once she slipped free of the tunnel she realized was a large underground cavern. 

‘This place is huge. And there are several other tunnels branching off from it.’ Arch sent up to her family, shining her light onto the other openings she could see. Her wings ruffled and curled around her as a sudden feeling of being watched washed over her. 

‘Don’t go exploring more than you need to Tweety, just find out what happened to our missing prospector and get back up here.’ Victor’s voice rang through her head, easing her nerves a bit. 

‘Don’t worry, I’m not in the mood for getting lost.’ Arch shot back, moving further into the cavern slowly. 

It was as she moved further away from the tunnel she’d come through that she heard the first one. Another surface thought, one that didn’t belong to anyone up top. She paused as she tried to focus on the whispered thought. The first was joined by a second, then a third, and a fourth, before she was suddenly practically assaulted by hundreds of thousands of voices filling her head. 

‘Food… Hungry…. Prey…. Eat….’ All of them were thinking along the same thing and a sudden feeling of fear shivered down her spine at their voices. As she shuffled forward further one of her boots suddenly bumped against something and she glanced down to see a bloody shoe with a human foot still inside. She’d found Zeke it seemed, but she doubted she’d find the rest of him now. 

She spun around as she heard the sudden sound of clicking and hissing behind her. Before her light could land on the thing she’d heard it was gone and something else behind her shot past her head and smacked her wrist forcing her to drop her flashlight at the sudden sting. Arch hissed and covered the sudden slice on her wrist with her free hand, her fear rising as the whispers and sounds suddenly grew. Arch gasped in surprise as something in the dark shot out and she barely dodged it, leaving a now open wound in her left arm. Her breath quickened as she spun around frantically trying to see what was attacking her. She still couldn’t see what was stalking her, but she did see a slight gleam of light from the ceiling above her reflect off of something extremely sharp. 

Arch had seen things like that before in the mouths of predators and her fear spiked immensely as her mind suddenly turned toward the memory of sharp claws and teeth tearing into her flesh as they tried to rip her apart. She screamed in fear as something in the dark pounced at her from the darkness, ducking out of its way as her wings flared out and lit aflame with a crack. A screech of pain filled the cavern and hissing joined it as all the other creatures grew agitated by the light from her wings, but Arch’s mind was already panicking frantically as she scurried towards the pillars of light coming from the ceiling, as small as they were. She could hear the creatures scrambling after her and she swiftly took to the air frantically flying towards the holes that she barely recognized as most likely being the spires they’d seen nearby. When it became too tight for her wings to keep her in the air she scrambled up the spire with hands and feet calling out frantically for help. 

In her panic she had completely forgotten about her phasing but her mutation had not. As she reached near the top of the spire and began clawing at the dirt frantically, she suddenly fell through the dirt into the sunlight and sand, leaving behind the rope as she slipped through it as well. She scurried away from the spire, her wings frantically flapping as she tried to get to her feet trying to get as far away from where she could hear the screeches growing angry. She got to her feet just as a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her. Her panic not easing yet, Arch practically climbed Logan’s taller frame and wrapped her legs around his waist, arms around his neck and buried her nose into his neck as she sobbed against her older brother in fear. 

She felt one of Logan’s arms wrap around her waist to keep her against him, while the other settled against her head. Her wings had curled around them both, as if trying to protect them from a perceived threat and she could feel Laura and Victor close by their own worry filling her head and beginning to calm her panic attack. Whatever those things were down there, they would eat whatever they got their claws into and it had been too much. She’d already been mauled once in her life and she had no desire to do it again. 

  
  


Logan hadn’t liked the idea of Arch going down into the tunnel, but he also knew Arch wouldn’t risk a child possibly being sent instead. So he watched as she made her way into the tunnel, wings passing through the dirt and surprising the others despite what she had told them. Victor stepped up beside him and Logan handed both the gauntlet and goggles to him, he wanted his hands free just in case. He could hear Arch as she observed the tunnel thoughtfully, hear her disgust as she caught the scent of blood and fear mixed as well as her curiosity as she tried to make out the third scent she found. They all remained silent, Logan, Victor and Laura focusing inside as they listened to Arch make her way into a large underground cavern. 

‘This place is huge. And there are several other tunnels branching off from it.’ Arch’s voice rang through their heads as they got a mental image of the large space being hit with sparse light from a flashlight. Logan could feel a distinct sense of nerves from his Fire Bird, making him all the more anxious to be unable to reach her at the moment. 

‘Don’t go exploring more than you need to Tweety, just find out what happened to our missing prospector and get back up here.’ Victor responded, shifting to cross his arms beside Logan as he glared at the tunnel in irritation. 

‘Don’t worry, I’m not in the mood for getting lost.’ Arch answered, the feeling of her nerves easing filling their beings and making Logan relax a bit. 

Everything was quiet for several moments before suddenly a spike of fear from Arch’s end of the link filled their minds, making Logan tense again. He prodded her mind slightly for a second but went ignored as Arch seemed to focus on what was around her. A flash of pain through the link and closely followed by a scream from in the tunnel had Logan shooting towards it and shouting out for Arch to answer them. Suddenly the rope that had been in Owens and Imam’s hands jerked out of them as it began moving down the tunnel swiftly as if Arch was trying to get away from something, her screams growing louder and her panic filling his head. 

He could see flashes of teeth and claws from her end of the link, growls and snarls filling his head from a memory that was all too familiar to him and yet he knew that wasn’t what was happening. But whatever was down there with Arch resembled those starving wolves enough that she was panicking. Suddenly a scream for help coming from the spires had Logan taking off towards them, with Victor and Laura hot on his heels. The others followed slower, by the time he reached the spires Arch’s panicked mind was still screaming on her end of the link and he could see her falling through the spire as her phasing kicked in to protect her. She was scrambling away from the spire as he approached, her wings frantically flapping to get her back on her feet and he instantly swept her into his arms just as she got her feet under her. 

Logan could hear Fry demanding to know what Arch had seen, but the smaller blonde was still too panicked. She was practically climbing him the moment he had her in his arms, and he easily adjusted his grip as arms and legs wrapped around him and wings curled around his back. 

“It’s okay Arch, I got you. I got you.” Logan muttered, one arm around her waist and settling his free hand against her head to pet her hair. Arch sobbed against his neck as her whole body shook in fear. He watched as Victor and Laura moved to flank the spire, eyes focused and claws extended as they both growled at the unseen threat to their family member. 

“What did you see?!” Fry screamed as she tried to get answers. 

“Back off  _ Cabrona _ !” Laura snarled, making Fry step back in surprise. 

“She needs a few minutes, can’t you see that?” Jack demanded, glaring at Fry like Laura was. 

“He’s right Fry, let’s get back to the ship and allow Arch a chance to calm down before we ask her what she saw down there.” Owens instructed. 

Logan didn’t need any other encouragement. Spinning on his heel, he carried Arch back towards the crashed ship, Laura and Victor flanking him in protective postures while Jack and Ali moved to either side of him with concerned expressions for the woman in his arms. It was as they were walking back to the ship that Laura rushed forward and stopped his movements looking to Arch. 

“Logan, she’s still bleeding.” Laura murmured, her tone fearful. Glancing down, Logan saw a deep scratch on Arch’s left shoulder that was sluggishly bleeding and had still yet to close. He glanced at Victor and Laura who looked to him with a hint of fear in their eyes. If these creatures could stop their healing factor what could they do to them if they got a hold of them. 

  
  
  


Riddick honestly wasn’t surprised when he heard the docking pilot had wanted to investigate the hole, even less surprised when she tried to send a kid down instead of trying to go herself. He was shocked however, when he picked up on the Pretty Bird volunteering to go down instead of risking Fry convincing Owens to send Jack. At the distance the group was from the ship where he was still chained already made it difficult to hear all that was said, but he had no doubt Logan hadn’t been happy about Arch’s volunteering, but he didn’t pick up any sounds of arguing after she did so. He had no doubt the creatures under the ground would unnerve all the humans and maybe even unsettle the Pretty Bird, but he had honestly not been prepared to hear the screams of absolute terror that reached his ears. 

The sounds had Riddick jerking slightly at their piercing noise, even though they were clearly underground, and had him straightening in surprise. The blonde hadn’t struck him to be so easily scared, even by the unseen creatures, after all she was a predator much like him. So what had her screaming like that? Several minutes of her screams filled the air, before they suddenly became less muffled and became loud enough that it made his head ring. The screams quickly turned to sobs however, and Riddick wondered if the small Beta had found comfort with her pack Alpha. Logan seemed like someone who was quite protective of his pack and would no doubt seek to assure himself of a pack member's safety after screams like those. 

Riddick picked up Fry trying to demand answers from the distraught woman and smirked slightly at the snarl from Laura as well as the reprimand from Jack. He was certainly impressed with the way the Pretty Bird had already gained the allegiance of most of the survivors, it appeared only Johns and Fry really had a problem with her and the rest of her pack. Not that Riddick could blame Johns, if he was anyone else he’d be just as uneasy about them. 

He was pulled from his thoughts at the sounds of swiftly approaching footsteps upon the sands. He was barely able to make out past the torn opening of the ship and just barely got a glimpse of the pack Alpha as he literally stormed past with the Pretty Bird wrapped around him like a leech. Her wings were curled around them both and even with the brief glimpse he was able to see her whole body shaking terribly. Jack and Ali were trailing after Logan looking like lost and scared ducklings and were closely followed by Laura, her whole posture tense and agitated. The other survivors slowly meandered past some looking concerned while some didn’t, Johns and Fry looking more pissed off then anything. Victor was last to pass the opening and came to a slow stop as he glanced in at him. 

Riddick watched him slightly curious, but his interest still more focused on where he could hear Logan comforting his pack beta. His attention shifted back to Victor as the man moved into the ship and stood a few feet in front of him. 

“Something I can help you with?” Riddick inquired quietly. Victor continued staring at him for a moment before he shifted and held out his goggles, dangling from his fingers by their strap. 

“Look, you may not understand this but for whatever reason Arch seems to approve of you, and with the fact we need to get off this rock with as little issues and trouble as possible I’m gonna offer you something here. You help us and work to get us all off this planet as safely as you can manage and I’ll let you go right now, me and the others will even deal with Johnny Boy if he tries anything.” Victor said, keeping his eyes locked on him. 

“And if I say no?” Riddick inquired. 

“Then I will gut you right here. Arch may like you for some strange reason, but she likes the kids far more and that means me and the family put their safety first.” Victor replied easily, not even hesitating to threaten him. 

Riddick could appreciate that the man didn’t appear to fear him. But at the same time the offer made him skeptical. He knew he couldn’t turn on them easily, even if he managed to take down one of the pack members if he decided to ghost the group, he doubted they’d stay down for long, he’d seen Logan get back up from the chest wound, or that he’d get far before one of the other pack members would be on him. The little family of four worked even better than a finely tuned machine and it honestly made him quite curious how they did it. 

“Very well, you let me go and keep Johns off me and I will help the sheep get off the planet.” Riddick replied. 

Victor nodded, brought up his empty hand and Riddick watched as his nails seemed to lengthen before he brought them down on the chains and they fell apart. Riddick brought his arms forward to stretch out the muscles, rolling his shoulders and his neck to get rid of the stiffness. 

“You and your...family seem to have all kinds of tricks.” Riddick said curiously. 

“Yeah well we’re like a Swiss Army Knife.” Victor replied cryptically, holding out Riddick’s goggles. Riddick gave the other man a confused expression. 

He knew a Swiss was some tiny lizard creature on a planet that was known to be a great exotic pet, but he couldn’t understand what it had to do with a long serrated knife used by soldiers. 

“What does a lizard and a knife have to do with this?” Riddick inquired, receiving a raised brow from the other man before he seemed to realize something. 

“Sorry, meant Utility Knife.” Victor replied, but didn’t elaborate as he still held out the goggles to the man. The convict took the goggles, his confusion still clear on his face, and put them on before following Victor out of the ship. They’d barely taken a few steps outside when he heard Johns rapidly begin approaching. 

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?! Are you trying to get us all killed!?” Johns shouted, grabbing the attention from everyone else. 

Riddick was surprised to find that despite the fact he could feel the tension grow through the group none of the others had moved into aggressive stances beyond Johns and Fry. 

“We need all the help we can get right now and on top of that we can’t keep worrying about the boogeyman at our back. I made a deal with him and trust me if he so much as looks like he’s plotting something I’ll handle him myself, now how about you step back and stop acting like you have any kind of authority here.” Victor replied, cracking his knuckles at the man as Johns glared at him. Johns appeared ready to argue until Laura stepped up beside Victor. 

“I’d do as he says Merc, we got better things to do then deal with your withdrawal mood swings.” Laura growled softly, glaring at the blonde man. 

He watched as Johns seemed to size up the two in front of him and contemplated whether he could take either of them. Finally Johns backed off and stalked away towards the docking pilot. The three of them stood there for a moment before Laura looked to Victor. She raised her eyebrow at him and he simply tilted his head at her for a moment, before scoffing and walking away with a roll of his shoulders. Laura chuckled under her breath before turning back to Riddick. 

“Come on, we need someone to pull the power cell and I think that’s the perfect job for you to keep the others from panicking.” Laura said waving him to follow her to the makeshift sled. He followed without question. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go guys next chapter, please enjoy :D also bear with me, my plot bunnies hate me and like to pop up when I don't want them to and I am now trying to also work on another story that popped in my head. This one most likely won't get posted and that's the one thing that frustrates me on your guys behalf, because I don't post everything I come up with and it leaves me not working on the ones I do post like this one or AC Soulmates story and I am so sorry for that. But please bear with me guys and enjoy the new chapter for "Life of an Immortal?"

Riddick watched the group of survivors as he was directed to the sled with the power cell. They were all working to get ready to head to the settlement, most of them being cautious of his presence but not saying anything. Yet, it was the pack oriented family that drew his attention, specifically their beta. She had converged on the children and was keeping them busy with helping while the adults around them all worked to get ready to leave. The youngest of Imam’s boys was practically clinging to her and had an air of fear around him, most likely from whatever had scared the Pretty Bird earlier. 

Arch had clearly recovered from her experience with the creatures, but Riddick could see in the way she held herself and the way her wings curled a little more tightly around her and the youngest child that she was still spooked by what she’d seen. He was curious to find out what had caused the slender woman to panic, but most likely would have to wait for his answers if the way he saw Logan hovering around nearby was any indication. 

It was as he was strapping into the harness for the sled that he took notice of the winged woman approaching the sled. The children had stayed with Logan, while the other woman carried over what appeared to be several packs and some sort of metal case. That gauntlet he’d seen her wearing earlier was still on her left hand and he could just make out the sound of what sounded like tiny little bugs skittering around inside it as if a colony of ants lived inside the tech. He was tightening the straps around his shoulders when she reached the sled and settled everything on it with the cell. 

“Really gonna trust me with your precious stow away case there Pretty Bird?” Riddick couldn’t help inquiring, smirking as he felt her eyes snap to him. 

“No trust required, everything in the packs can be replaced when we get off this rock and the case can’t be opened by anyone but me and my family so you are more than welcome to try and make off with it.” Arch responded nonchalantly as she straightened from where she’d been strapping down the packs and case. 

“Every piece of tech is breakable.” He shot back, enjoying the lack of fear towards him. It was so rare to find someone who didn’t fear him, even Johns was afraid of what he could do, but not the pretty thing with wings. 

“While I have seen Vibranium break before I seriously doubt you have the strength to do so, especially since it’s also laced with Adamantium to help strengthen it further.” Arch scoffed, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at him unamused. 

Now that was interesting. While he had heard of both Adamantium and Vibranium before, he had only heard of some military in a distant galaxy being the ones to actually merge the two to make a stronger metal for armor and technology. Did Arch have contacts in this military? Or were she and her family running from them and that’s how they got the case to begin with? Before he could inquire where she’d received such a case, Johns called for them to head out and took the front of the group with Fry a step behind him. The group swiftly moved out, with Arch moving to walk ahead of Riddick where he took up the back of the travelling pack. 

It didn’t take long after they headed away from the crash sight for Riddick to take notice of something quite interesting. Their group had congregated into smaller groups as they walked, but a common factor amongst most of the little groups was that at least one of the Howlett’s seemed to be with them. Shazza, Jack, Lawson and Owens were walking a few feet behind Johns and Fry with Laura hovering close and speaking to Shazza in comforting tones. Imam and his two oldest boys were behind them, his arms around each of the boys with Victor walking just ahead of the three glancing back regularly to chat with the boys in their own dialect. Arch was walking just ahead of himself with Ali tucked under one arm, a wing curling around the boys back and hiding him from the sun as they trekked across the sand. Logan was prowling between each small group, not speaking or joining any conversations, but just being near his pack members for several minutes before moving to the next group. 

Logan never ventured to where Johns and Fry walked with Paris just behind them, he never even glanced in their direction as he made his rounds. The large predatory like man would only come near those three when he would trek up to Laura and brush shoulders or arms with her for a few moments before moving to the next. Riddick watched as Logan made another pass to Arch, her free wing seeming to unconsciously reach out as her Alpha neared and fluttered happily when the man would run fingers over her feathers. Riddick’s amusement even grew as he realized as Logan made his rounds to each group, he would even slow down to keep pace with Riddick for a few minutes while his eyes scanned the desert. It seemed the Howlett’s had outcast those they didn’t deem worthy of protecting and unfortunately for Johns he wasn’t included amongst that group, yet Riddick was. That amused the convict to no end. 

  
  
  
  


Ali had been so excited when Imam had announced to him and the other boys that he would be taking them on a spiritual journey to New Mecca. The crash had been scary but seen as a mere step in their journey even to the youngest boy. Imam had remained calm and a tall man with extremely short cut and dark hair with overly long nails had helped him and his brothers from their pods. He’d seemed gruff but had spoken to Imam when he’d thanked him for the assistance. Victor Creed was the man's name and when Imam had steered the boys outside he eventually met the man’s other family members. 

Logan Howlett was just as tall as Victor, if not a few inches taller, he had similar dark hair and facial hair and wore his hair longer than his brother. Both men had muscular builds that made Ali think they most likely worked in hard labor jobs that kept them quite fit. Both men even wore very similar outfits. Dark jeans with tank tops under button up shirts and a pair of hiking boots on their feet. The only difference is Victor wore dog tags around his neck that hung proudly out in the open and jingled slightly as he moved. 

Laura was next. She appeared to share a lot of facial features with Logan, but was far more feminine. Her dark brown hair was worn long and tied back in a high ponytail. While she wasn’t muscled like the males she was quite fit and he didn’t doubt she could do hard labor as well. She even dressed similarly to both males, a green tank top under a tan button up shirt, light blue jeans and a pair of black hiking boots. 

It was the final member however, that really grabbed his attention. Long white blonde hair that even pinned back in the high ponytail she had it reach her waist and dark gray eyes that reminded him of storm clouds gave her heart shaped face an angelic like look. Which was fitting since the giant white wings that sat on her back made her look like an Angel. Smallest in height and build out of her whole family, Arch barely reached Logan’s shoulders in height and her slender body appeared to have little to no visible hard labor muscle on her, yet Ali doubted she was weak in any way. Due to her wings Arch didn’t dress like her family did. She still wore jeans, a pair of what Ali believed were a female form of combat boots, but her purple top was sleeveless with a zipper at the front that most likely helped her put the shirt on without interference from her wings and had a set of strings that wrapped around and tied behind her neck. 

Like Victor she wore a set of dog tags around her neck. Ali had been allowed to look at them when they’d been at the abandoned settlement the first time. It seemed at one point both Victor and Logan had been military officials somewhere and the dog tags were a way of showing their status as being a soldier. According to Arch, she wore Logan’s tags since he had a tendency to misplace them when he had them. She had a second set of tags on the chain with Logan’s that read “Lt. Col. James Rhodes”, but had only said that they belonged to a brother she’d lost a long time ago. Ali was curious about who this other brother was, but the look of pain that had been etched upon her face had stopped him from inquiring further. 

After that they’d returned to the crash sight where he quickly learned something had happened to Zeke. He hadn’t seen exactly what had happened, but he had seen Arch interrupt Johns attacking the escaped convict. He’d been confused at first since as a convict shouldn’t Arch have been helping Johns capture him? However, he didn’t dwell on it, Arch and her family had been nothing but helpful and Ali had quickly deduced that Arch had a way of telling the good people from the bad somehow. She hadn’t said it out right to him, but he had taken note of her wary looks towards Johns and Fry, which in turn made him wary of them as well. He had decided then that if Arch was protecting Riddick it was for a good reason. 

He had noticed her and Victor chain up the convict however, most likely wanting to ease everyone’s minds since things were tense with Zeke now missing. Imam had told him that Arch had informed them that Zeke had been dragged down a hole and Riddick hadn’t been involved, so when Fry had apparently suggested sending Jack down to investigate what took the prospector, Ali suddenly understood why Arch seemed very wary of the other blonde woman. Instead Arch had volunteered herself and he had been quite shocked to see her wings pass through solid ground as if they didn’t exist. Then they waited silently as the line Arch was attached to continued down the tunnel. 

It had terrified Ali when he’d heard Arch begin screaming and watching her panic had only made his fear worse. Arch and her family had been the most calm out of everyone since the crash, to see her so afraid of something made the situation they were in all the more real. She’d clung to Logan for a while, but once they began moving towards the settlement, Ali had attached himself to her side, liking the feeling of her wing curling around him and shielding him from the harsh rays of the suns. Now that they’d reached the settlement and the adults were busy with the skiff and water pump, Ali and the other boys went exploring. He had seen Arch follow behind him and Jack, but wasn’t worried about getting in trouble for exploring. 

Watching Jack shave his head to look more like the convict was kind of funny, but he quickly became bored after and separated from Jack when the older boy started following Riddick around. He went around the side of a large building that had a tarp draped over part of the top of it. He couldn’t find a door on the side, but he did find a hole that was just big enough for him to slip through and into the darkened building. He was just moving further into the dark room when he heard movement and looked up towards the ceiling. He froze when he saw some dark creatures tucked away into the ceiling. He nearly screamed when a hand came around and covered his mouth suddenly. 

‘Shh, Ali, don’t make a sound.’ The sound of Arch’s voice echoing through his head had him tensing for a moment before he relaxed back into the body behind him and allowed the woman to pull him close to her. 

He could vaguely make out the outline of her wings as they curled forward to cocoon him as she began shuffling them backwards back towards the hole he’d come through. However, before they got far something suddenly shifted in the room, waking the creatures as they began to shift and move. Ali felt himself hugged closer to Arch and her body tense as her wings fully engulfed him. 

‘Ali, no matter what happens I want you to hang onto me do you understand? Wrap your arms around me and don’t let go.’ Arch instructed in his head. Confused and scared, by the urgency in her tone he spun in her arms and quickly hugged her waist as the creatures suddenly screeched. 

Arch practically lifted him off his feet as she suddenly spun and ran further into the room, ducking when a creature screeched and dove for them. Ali vaguely took in the sight of one of her wings snapping out and batting away the creature before Arch was diving into a metal crate that was on its side. The clang of the crate hitting the ground as Arch dropped it around them was drowned out by the increased cries of the creatures as they began attacking the crate frantically. Ali sobbed in fear as Arch curled herself around him and wrapped her wings tight. He thought he felt the heat of flames as he buried his face into her shoulder, but was too afraid to see what was happening as he heard the creatures claws tearing into the metal crate. As he clung to the blonde woman who was trying her best to protect him, he couldn’t help but feel they were already doomed since he doubted anyone knew where they were. They were going to die. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. Also guys I know Arch seems to have a lot of stuff going for her when it comes to abilities and seem to just kinda be using them as I see fit but I promise she actually has a set type of mutation and has limitations that will be shown as time goes on. I have her fully worked out and hashed out about how her abilities work and why. If any of you actually want a little like side chapter or author note about what Arch's actual mutation is and how it works in detail please leave a comment and I will make a separate part for this series and post it up for you guys. Any ways thanks for the reads, reviews, comments and kudos in advance :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys I know it's been awhile so enjoy a somewhat longer chapter your welcome.

Riddick had gone exploring the abandoned settlement and had found some interesting things. Everything the previous residents had owned seemed to be left behind where they had left it. It wasn’t hard to figure out that whatever happened, these people hadn’t left this planet. They had died here and he was just willing to bet that it was the same things that got Zeke. The question was, why hadn’t they come after their little group yet? 

He managed to find a broken light lamp and glasses right next to a large building that had a tarp over part of it’s top. Dropping the broken items back into the sand where he’d found them, Riddick stood and moved part of the tarp out of the way of the door and read the words ‘Coring Room’ above it. Reaching out he grabbed the handles and tugged on the doors only to find they were locked from the inside. Interesting. 

The sudden sound of a whistle behind him had Riddick turning and his eyes narrowed behind his goggles as he saw Johns standing there looking smug. The blue-eyed devil most likely assumed that Victor had managed to get him on a leash, he couldn’t wait to show the bastard how wrong his assumption was. 

“You’re missing the party. Come on, boy.” Johns called, patting his leg like he was calling a dog to him. Riddick was actually quite surprised by the man’s audacity. Johns had no idea what Riddick and Victor had agreed upon and he was acting like Riddick was some mutt at his beck and call. Shaking his head Riddick moved to follow the man, pulling the tarp he’d moved free knowing that the young teen, Jack, had been hiding there while trying to follow him. 

He smirked as he looked up at the kid, who had apparently shaved her head and found a pair of broken goggles to wear. He wasn’t sure whether to be concerned that she was trying to imitate him or flattered, he decided to go with flattered because it was safer than wondering why a teenager wanted to imitate a killer. 

“You’re missing the party. Come on.” Riddick called, smirking again as the girl cursed at being caught. He led the way as she jumped down from the top of the coring building, neither of them noticing as the solar panels began whirring to life. 

Riddick led the way into the building where the others had taken refuge in order to drink the water they’d recently collected. Laura took notice of them both and laughed as she saw Jack, coming over and wrapping an arm around the teen. 

“Well kiddo, while I don’t personally understand the appeal, the look works for you I think.” Laura said, handing Jack a glass filled with water. Fry and Johns were staring incredulously at the two, but said nothing. 

“If she was several feet shorter she could be Mini Me.” Victor commented, getting a laugh from Laura and a snort from Logan as the man held out a glass of clean water to Riddick. 

The convict took note that the Pretty Bird and the youngest boy appeared to be missing as everyone drank their fill, but was unconcerned. Arch had been following both Ali and Jack when the two had been exploring and had most likely followed the youngest when he had wandered away from the teen. 

“Who were these people anyway, miners?” Lawson asked suddenly from where he stood next to Owens. 

The man had fit into the rest of the collection quite easily during their trip to the settlement. He respected Logan for saving him and in turn had put his trust into the whole Howlett family from what Riddick could tell, to the point that he seemed to have bonded with Owens over having been saved by one of them. 

“I don’t know. Looks like geologists.” Shazza answered him holding up a tool of some sort that held a crystal, “You know, an advance team, moves around from rock to rock.” 

“Nice of them to leave so much stuff here. Why’d they leave their ship?” Fry commented as she walked over to the group. 

“It’s not a ship, it’s a skiff. It’s disposable really.” Johns replied. 

“It’s more like an emergency life raft, right?” Paris asked. 

“Yeah, they probably had a big drop ship take them off planet.” Shazza suggested. 

“Are you people really being this dumb?” Victor asked suddenly, making Riddick smirk. 

He apparently wasn’t the only one who had come to the conclusion that these people hadn’t left. And judging by Laura and Logan’s expressions they’d realized it too. 

“These people didn’t leave. Do you really think they’d leave every single one of their belongings behind?” Victor demanded, crossing his arms as he ran his eyes over the group. 

“Maybe they had weight limits. You don’t know.” Shazza argued. 

“Then answer me this. If they had a drop ship come, why is the skiff still planet side? Even if it was a ship that came down to get them, why would it have a weight limit that didn’t allow them to take some of their possessions with them? Think people! These people didn’t make it off this planet alive.” Victor argued, making the group fall silent for a moment. 

The air was tense and everyone remained quiet, until suddenly Riddick saw Logan’s head snap up and to the door, before he was suddenly moving out of the room at a run. Victor and Laura had followed suit barely a half second later, confusing the group for a second before the sound of Imam frantically questioning where Ali was, had the group hurrying after the three. Riddick took the lead, easily over taking Johns who glared as he passed to catch up. He came into sight of the coring room building just as he watched both Victor and Logan practically kick the heavy metal doors off their hinges, the sight of Laura sheathing two claw like appendages back into her knuckles making him pause for a second before following them as they stepped into the barely lit room. 

He moved cautiously, Victor and Laura taking up positions by the door while Logan carefully stepped further into the room. He followed the other man swiftly, not liking the sound of whispers and clicking he was hearing. If Ali was in here, the boy was probably dead, but then that begged the question; where was Arch and why hadn’t there been a scream? As he continued further into the room, he took notice of Imam moving inside, softly calling to Ali before he moved towards a pair of closed doors off to the side. 

“No don’t-” 

Laura was cut off as Imam was thrown back when the doors burst open and a flock of small winged creatures burst out with a screech. Riddick and Logan ducked down as they swooped past and the convict thought he heard the sound of Johns cursing before he focused on the creatures again. They circled in the room for a moment before swooping down to the center and down into a hole in the floor. It was silent for several moments before Logan stood up again and swiftly moved away from the hole. 

The others stepped into the room as Riddick followed him to a large metal crate that appeared to be letting off a large amount of heat. Logan put his boot against the top edge and kicked hard forcing the crate to flip onto its side, revealing a large form underneath. As the form shifted and uncurled from itself, Riddick realized it was Arch, who had curled herself and her wings around Ali while they’d been hidden in the crate. 

“You have got to stop giving me gray hairs FireBird.” Logan stated, as Arch stood from her crouched position. 

“That will never happen and you know it Big Brother.” Arch argued back, allowing Logan to pull her into his arms and check that she was in one piece. 

Imam had hurried over when he’d taken note of them and Ali wasted no time in seeking comfort from the Holy Man. Riddick watched everything quietly. His suspicions about how the Howlett’s communicated was becoming harder to ignore. There hadn’t been a scream or any indication that Arch and Ali were in danger and yet Logan had known exactly where to run and Laura and Victor had followed him with no questions, as if they knew where he was going and why. Those were questions for later however, as he swiftly turned to where Fry, Shazza and Johns had moved to stand on the grating that was above the hole the creatures had disappeared down. He took little notice of Imam gathering his boys and Jack and removing them from the building swiftly. 

Riddick moved to the hole as well, using the opening in the fencing around the hole to get closer to it and lean over to look down. He’d left his goggles on, thankfully, because not even a few seconds before he peered over the edge, Johns dropped a lit flare down the hole, revealing skeletons of different sizes littering it. So this is what happened to the former residents. 

“Other buildings weren’t secure, so they ran here. Heaviest doors. Thought they’d be safe inside-” 

“But they forgot to lock the cellar.” Arch finished for Riddick. The convict glanced over at her as she came up beside him to glance down the hole. Her wings were ruffled and spread away from her body slightly, the only signs that she was still unsettled by these creatures. 

Riddick heard the three above them move down from the catwalk area above and he didn’t even glance when he heard Shazza approach. After a moment of standing there she took off her O2 tank and held it out.   
“Here.” She said softly, making Riddick stare at her suspiciously. Before he could say anything though, Arch stepped around him and took it from the woman.   
“I’ll make sure he knows you’re sorry about before, Shazza.” The blonde said softly, receiving a smile and a nod from the dark haired woman. 

Shazza walked away leaving Riddick to watch the blonde curiously. 

“She was trying to apologize for accusing you about Zeke. I figured you’d most likely think she was fucking with you, so intervened before you could break this.” Arch explained as she turned and held out the O2 tank to him.   
“You sure it ain’t broken?” He inquired carefully, staring at it for a moment. 

“Positive. Now here, you are the only one who hasn’t had constant access to proper air since we arrived and I’m afraid we might be needing everyone at their best before too long.” Arch assured easily. Even with his eye-shine he was able to see the smile she gave him and it made it slightly easier to take the tank from her. She gave him another smile and left without another word, as if knowing he wouldn’t use the tank while she still stood there. 

He silently wondered how she was able to do that. It was like she could see into his head and know exactly what was making him so cautious. Riddick tensed at the thought. He’d heard rumors before, that there had once been a type of human that had capabilities of reading people's mind, but he assumed they were long gone or nothing more than fairy tales. It would explain however, how the Howlett’s were able to silently communicate like they were. Looked like he was gonna have to do some careful questioning of a couple of the Howlett’s and hope he got an answer to his questions. 

There were only two people out of the four he felt he could actually question and maybe get some answers. He’d inquire to Laura first and see how that went then question Victor and see if he got anywhere. Nodding to himself Riddick took a hit of the O2 tank and swiftly left the coring room, barely glancing as Lawson, Johns and Owens began boarding it up as soon as he left the building. He prowled through the settlement, keeping an ear out for Laura, and clocked where everyone was located. 

Imam had recruited the children to assist with finding anything that they could put on the skiff, not yet realizing that not everyone could fit into the small craft, with Arch clearing the buildings as being safe to enter. Shazza had turned to working on the solar powered Sand cat they had discovered with Logan assisting. Paris had seemingly hidden away in the building they’d all been before going to the coring room and he couldn’t spot Fry. While Victor appeared to be patrolling the area like a wolf pacing its den and Laura was looking over the Skiff. 

Deciding he wouldn’t get a better opportunity, he moved to speak with Laura. He made sure Johns was still too busy to notice his direction and quickly moved into the skiff where Laura was making sure the powercell they had brought was hooked up properly for system checks. She had taken her band from her hair and put her long hair into a bun instead of a ponytail, to keep it from getting in her way. He could hear her cursing under her breath as she was pulling wires and trying to hook the cell into the ship. 

“If you got nothing better to do than stand there mind being useful and handing me something to strip these wires with?” Laura asked, glancing up at him from where she crouched with the cell. Obliging her request, he pulled a shiv he’d managed to find in the wreckage of the ship and held it out to her. Arch and Victor hadn’t knicked it off him after chaining him, leaving him at least one weapon. 

“Thanks.” She said, taking it and focusing back on the wires in her hands. 

He watched for a moment, casually looking over the skiff with a critical eye. 

“You and your family are quite a force to be reckoned with, especially with your multitude of skills.” Riddick commented nonchalantly, leaning against the side of the skiff. 

“I suppose. We’ve been all sorts of places, so we picked up quite a few things along the way.” Laura replied with a noncommittal shrug, cursing as she cut her finger on the shiv. Riddick’s theory that they all had a healing ability was confirmed as he watched Laura wipe her finger that dripped blood off on her jeans only to bring her finger back completely healed with no sign there had even been a wound. 

“Yeah? What about your silent way of communicating? Was that something you picked up during your travels?” He asked, watching her carefully as she worked. 

Laura didn’t even tense at his words, simply shrugged as she connected the powercell and shoved it into the cell area and shut it. 

“We’re family, I’ve been with all of them my whole life, I guess you could say we can read each other’s body language better than most people.” Laura replied, moving to start flipping switches on the skiff. 

“What about the coring room?” 

“What about it?” 

“You all reacted to something, like you heard a call for help and yet neither the kid or the Pretty Bird ever uttered a single cry. At least not one loud enough for any of us to hear it from where we all were, yet all three of you took off like you knew exactly what was happening and why.” 

Riddick saw Laura turn to look at him and smile slightly at his interrogation. 

“I guess you could say a sort of sixth sense runs in the family. We just knew something was wrong and followed our guts.” Laura replied easily, turning back to her work. She was good he’d give her that, not a single thing in her body language said that she was lying, but he could smell a lie, just as he knew she probably could. He also knew though that her comment was all he would get from her. That left his only other source of information left to try. He’d have to find Victor and see if he’d be a little less cryptic. 

Taking the shiv back, since Laura seemed done with it for the moment, Riddick left the skiff and looked around to try and spot Victor. The other man was still patrolling around the area and was just disappearing around one of the buildings when Riddick spotted him. Moving to follow him, the convict quickly caught up to the man and kept stride with him. He received a brief glance from the other man, but didn’t stop his strides as he walked out of sight of the group and checked the further edges of the settlement. 

“What do you want?” Victor asked bluntly as they walked, making Riddick glance at him in turn. 

“I was simply curious about you and your families unique way of communicating at such distances?” He inquired, feeling that being vague would only result in Victor shutting down even quicker. 

“It’s called reading body language, I figured someone like you already knew how to do that.” Victor replied, glancing at him suspiciously. 

“I was more talking about the fact you seem to know when one of you are in danger even when not a single call for help is made.” Riddick shot back, not surprised when Victor stopped in his tracks and turned to glare at him. 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a family thing.” Victor answered, basically giving him the same exact answer that Laura had. 

Riddick had to bite back a growl at the response. He guessed it was foolish to think that just because Victor was more blunt about things than Laura that he would just outright reveal what was going on, but dammit he wanted some answers. This family’s dynamic was frustrating him and he wasn’t used to not being able to gather answers to some of his curiosities. 

‘Big Bad, perhaps instead of bugging my family, you can just come and ask me your questions yourself.’ 

The convict froze on the spot at the sound of Arch’s voice ringing through his head. Victor had stopped to glance at him and snorted at his tense posture. 

“Go get your answers. If she’s willing to reveal herself, then it means she thinks you can be trusted.” The man said, before stalking away to continue his patrol of the perimeter. Riddick watched him go for a moment, still tense, before spinning on his heels and starting back towards where the others were more congregated. He didn’t know how he felt about the mind theory he’d come up with earlier being confirmed, after all this meant Arch could’ve been in his head the whole time. If that was the case, was she making him comply with what Victor suggested to him? No that didn’t seem right either. He hadn’t felt like his thoughts were odd or even his actions weren’t his own, so that meant she most likely wasn’t controlling him. If not it begged the question why she hadn’t taken control of Johns yet. 

‘Big Bad, you are thinking so loudly, my other links can feel my headache growing, just come here and I’ll answer some questions slowly.’ 

Arch’s voice interrupted his thoughts once again, making him stop in his tracks as he reached where Logan and Shazza were working on the sandcat. Imam had joined them and was assisting where he could, while Laura had seemed to change from working on the powercell to pressuring Paris into helping her fit as many supplies as she could onto the skiff and into tight spaces to leave more room for those who would be on it. Riddick’s eyes scanned the group, not catching sight of the winged woman right away amongst the figures, that is until he took notice of five forms that seemed to be lounging in the shade of a building near the sandcat. 

‘Yeah, I’m over here Big Bag, just don’t make too much noise, I just got the kiddies down for a bit of rest before we get back to work.’ Arch’s voice beckoned, getting him slowly moving towards her again. 

Even in his vision he could see the clear outline of Arch’s body laying in the center of the group, her wings spread wide across the sand under her and two body’s lying curled up close to her on either side. The other two forms, most likely Imam’s two older boys if their size and scents were correct, were curled up on her wings, but not pressed tightly against the other three forms in the center. If he had to guess he would assume Jack and Ali were the ones curled up to Arch like she was their own personal pillow, but it wasn’t much of a guess once he’d done the elimination of the other two children’s location. 

He followed her instruction, easily maneuvering until he could sit against the building just behind Arch’s head and watch her from under his goggles. He couldn’t tell if she was pretending to sleep as well, not with his eye-shine, and since she obviously wasn’t asleep her breathing wouldn’t tell him anything other than that she was awake and resting calmly with the children, who were sleeping from the sounds of their even slow breaths. He wondered for a moment if she’d used her mind ability to convince the children to rest or if they had just been that tired, he wasn’t sure which was more probable honestly. 

‘A bit of both, they were all exhausted and a little mental suggestion followed by a verbal comment about how tired I was and that a nap sounded great and I had them hook-line and sinker.’ Arch replied to his thoughts, making Riddick tense once again. 

He actually heard her sigh though she made it appear as if it was nothing more than a deep breath she’d taken while she slept. 

‘Big Bad, I’m not in your head, you think too loudly and you have no mental barriers to stop me from sending my thoughts your way. Trust me, someone like you would know if I was in your head, even my mental skills wouldn’t be able to trick you into missing my presence if I was in it.’ Arch explained, her head shifting slightly as if she was moving her head to look at him a bit, but he couldn’t tell. His thoughts quickly turned to what she had told him. So she could hear his basic surface thoughts, things he was thinking in the moment as he thought them. Did that mean she heard everyone’s thoughts or were only his ‘loud’ as she put it? 

‘Yes. I hear everyone on this planet as long as they are in close proximity. I can also hear the basic thoughts of most slightly intelligent creatures, such as the ones underground. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard thoughts like theirs, but I guess with how few humanoid and higher intelligent creatures are on this planet, they become part of my normal static.’ Arch replied, answering his question. 

‘So you can hear me like this?’ He prodded cautiously, getting a sense of amusement from Arch and a bell like laugh filling his head. 

‘Yep, and you won’t have to worry about me being in your head anytime soon if at all, so you can relax.’ Arch answered easily. 

‘And why’s that?’ He asked curiously. 

‘My telepathy, that’s what this mind ability is called, is based on the emotional connection I have with a person. Take the group currently, I only get surface thoughts, with others who I might focus on more simply because I like them more than the rest, but then there’s my family. I could be literally anywhere in the galaxy and I will always be able to find them, know what they are thinking, be able to communicate with them and vice versa, this is because I am emotionally attached to them on a very high level and others in between will range depending on the level of emotional attachment I have to them.’ 

‘So it’s all about how close you are whether you can be in a person’s head?’ 

‘Precisely. Well, and permission. I try to not just link up to someone I’m close to without permission, but most of those who I’ve ever been close with have never had a problem. Otherwise forcing myself into a person’s head can cause physical pain and destroy a person mentally. I obviously only do that in cases that call for it, and currently only Johns and Fry are on that list of possibles.’ 

Riddick let that information settle for a moment. He couldn’t really fault Arch for not saying anything about her ability from the start. Her family had already revealed way too much when she’d been injured in the crash from what he heard, no doubt the whole pack didn’t want to let the normal humans know too much in fear of what they might do out of fear. He doubted any of the humans would’ve been able to kill any of them, but no doubt the pack avoided harming others unless absolutely necessary, otherwise he believed Johns and Fry might have been dead several times over. 

‘Pfft. You aren’t wrong about that last idea. If I wasn’t concerned about how the others might react, I’d have scrambled Johns’ brains several times over and left him drooling in the desert to rot. As for Fry, she’s lucky I didn’t scramble her brains when she was thinking about dropping the passenger cabin during the crash.’ Arch commented, getting a snort from Riddick. 

He went silent as one of the children on her wings shifted slightly, before they settled once more. 

‘So your telepathy is why you let me live after you found me in the boneyard?’ Riddick inquired, getting another sense of amusement from Arch. 

‘Yep. I knew you had no intention of actually killing anyone but Johns unless you felt you had no choice and plus if you did have any intentions of killing everyone I’d have scrambled your brains while you were still tied up the first time. I may not fear for my family, but I have a bit of a soft spot for kids if you couldn’t tell and their safety comes first so your lack of hostile thoughts about them pretty much saved you.’ Arch replied easily, shifting a bit and settling Ali and Jack closer to her sides. 

‘So what else are you capable of, Pretty Bird?’ Riddick asked curiously, wondering if she had more tricks then he’d yet to see. 

‘That would be telling Big Bad and where’s the fun in that?’ Arch teased back, before the sudden sound of Fry calling for everyone brought his attention away from her. 

The children awoke at the call and Victor suddenly appeared from around the corner of the building Riddick and Arch had been beside. 

‘Seems the docking pilot might have found something of interest to the group at large.’ Arch sent to him as the children removed themselves from her and she stood up. He watched her figure as she stretched her arms above her head and her wings spread wide before pulling close to her body. 

‘Anything that we should be concerned about?’ Riddick inquired as he stood, smirking as he sensed Jack’s excitement about getting to see him up close. 

‘Maybe, I’m getting conflicting shit from her at the moment.’ She replied with a mental sigh of frustration. 

Before he could ask anything further Arch spoke to the three boys in Arabic before slinging an arm around Jack and Ali’s shoulders to lead the children towards the building. Victor stepped up beside him as he moved to follow her and Riddick glanced to his form. 

“Did you get the answers you were looking for?” Victor asked, his tone guarded and a clear threat. 

“For the most part.” Riddick replied easily, knowing there was more he wanted to learn about the confusing winged woman. 

“And now what are you going to do?” 

“Widdle the rest of my answers out of her.” 

Victor was quiet, before a chuckle left the other man. 

“Just remember this. Logan and I may be the obvious muscle of the family, but Arch is the one to fear. Her wrath is not something you want.” Victor warned, before picking up the pace to join Suleiman and speak with the oldest boy. Riddick had no doubt that Victor’s words were true, just the brief mental conversation told him exactly what Arch would be willing to do for the people she loved and that was all without her ever actually threatening him. The Pretty Bird was a force to be reckoned with that was for sure and he couldn’t help shivering in excitement at possibly getting to learn how to handle that dangerous force. 

  
  


**Meanwhile with Logan**

Logan looked up from the Sand Cat as he felt a nudge from Arch. She had sprawled out on the sand in the shade of a building nearby. The scare of the second encounter with those creatures, making her both protective of the children and cautious to leave his sight, had led to her convincing the children to take a nap while the adults worked. She had found a blanket in one of the buildings and had laid it out and spread out on it. Her wings splayed to their full extension as the children had collapsed on them using them to keep from sleeping in the sand. Jack and Ali had curled up tight to either side of her while Suleiman and Hassan had curled up on her wings, all four obviously fast asleep. 

Another mental nudge had Logan returning to his work as he sent a feeling of curiosity in Arch’s direction. 

‘Big Bad is asking questions, I’m going to let him in a bit. Keeping him in the dark will result in bad luck for everyone in this group. I may not care for Fry and Johns, but the kids don’t need the possibility of being left behind to be eaten.’ Arch explained silently. 

‘Do what you have to Arch, just don’t reveal everything you got in your arsenal. Is your teleportation still not working?’ Logan asked. When he’d heard her mental calls for help he hadn’t understood why Arch hadn’t just teleported Ali and herself out of the building, only to learn that something in the planet’s gravity was screwing it up to the point she couldn’t actually teleport at all. It was a good thing they learned that now instead of in an even more dire situation. 

He was pulled from his thoughts as Shazza came up beside him handing him a tool he’d asked for. 

“So, I have a question, if it’s not too much to inquire?” Shazza asked gently, obviously not wanting to upset him. Even without Arch feeding them the group's surface thoughts, Logan could tell most of the crash survivors were strongly in his and his family’s corner for protection. They believed the four of them were capable of keeping them safe from whatever was here, and it was clear in the way Shazza asked if she could inquire that she didn’t wish to insult any of them and lose that protection. Not that she would, Logan wasn’t exactly a man who would go out of his way to find people in trouble, but he certainly wouldn’t just abandon the lot of them to an unknown amount of hungry alien creatures. Then again, he certainly wanted to throw the pilot to them for being so damn persistent about finding out what happened to the other prospector and he wouldn’t be too upset about leaving the Mercenary amongst them to be torn limb from limb by the creatures. 

“What’s your question?” Logan asked, focusing on their work on the sand cat as Shazza moved to work on another part of it while he focused on the engine. 

“You and your family are obvious a very unique race of humanoid aliens, and I’ve never heard about the kind of healing abilities in a race of aliens like with you four, so I guess I’m just wondering how many out there are like you four?” Shazza inquired. 

Logan wasn’t about to correct her on her assumption of them being a humanoid alien. They were the most human, human beings left in the universe. Since Earth was abandoned no one born off the planet was considered an Earthling or a Terran anymore. They were of a few handful of Terran’s left in the universe, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. Thinking over her question for a moment, his mind immediately flashed to a red clad wearing Merc, who didn’t know when to shut up. The fellow Terran was a complete pain in his ass, but he supposed he was the only other one out there, that Logan knew of, that was exactly like his family when it came to a healing factor. 

“There’s only one other.” He answered honestly. He never counted Remy or even Carol being like them since they technically couldn’t heal like he or the other four could, though they certainly were very similar to them when it came to life spans and really Wade was the closest you could get to being anything like what his family were. 

**\--Meanwhile In a Far off Distant Bar Somewhere in the Galaxy--**

A certain Merc with a Mouth straightened suddenly from where he sat at the bar with some alien drink. He was completely covered from head to toe in his black and red outfit. Two swords strapped to his back and guns attached to his hips. He suddenly snapped his head around to look around the bar before seeming to stare off at something only he could see.   
“My Wolvie senses are tingling, I can feel it in my groin.” Deadpool muttered to himself, his voice dripping with excitement, “My Wolvie must be whispering sweet nothings about me!” 

**\--Back on the Barren Planet with Logan--**

Logan suddenly felt a shiver of dread tingle down his spine, forcing him to straighten and whip his head around to glare around for the source. He couldn’t explain it, but he suddenly had the uncontrollable urge to gut Wade like a fish. 

“Everything okay?” Shazza asked, her tone giving away her anxiousness at his sudden tension. 

“Yeah, just got a sudden chill.” He muttered returning to what he was doing. 

“Sorry, I mean about asking how many of you there are. It must be hard having so few of your people left.” Shazza said soothingly, clearly assuming her question had upset him. 

“It’s fine.” Logan replied. 

He honestly had never thought about how few mutants were left in the universe. In all honesty beside the four of them there was only one other true mutant in the whole universe that he knew of. Everyone else were by definition mutates, even Wade. It had never bothered him how few mutants were left, but as he thought about it he did look over to where Arch lay with the children. Riddick had joined her now, seated near her head his expressions, even with the goggles, giving away the fact she was speaking to him. He wondered briefly if his little Firebird ever mourned the thought of there being so few mutants left, or if she only mourned the fact she couldn’t see the mutants she had become so close to back on Earth. He would have to ask her when they had a chance and when getting off a desolate planet wasn’t a priority. 

His thoughts were once more pulled away when the sudden call from Fry came across the air. He glanced up curiously, before prodding at Arch. 

‘Don’t ask me, her mind is so scrambled I can’t tell what she wants.’ Arch supplied mentally. He sent a feeling of understanding as he got down from the sand cat and helped Shazza down, before heading to the building Fry had disappeared into once more. He wondered what she could possibly want that required all of them to stop their work, but he supposed the woman would explain herself soon enough.


	7. Not A Chapter (I AM SO SORRY GUYS PLEASE DON'T HATE ME)

Readers,

Okay Guys this is not a chapter and I am beyond sorry for that a lot has been going on in real life that has been stressing me out and making it hard to find motivation for my writing. I am working on it and trying to get back on track, but I figure in the mean time I have made a Discord Server for you guys. This will hopefully make it easier for everyone to get updates on why a chapter or story is taking so long and even interact easier with fellow readers. I got the idea from another Fanfic Author I follow on AO3 and I thought it would be perfect especially since part of my stress has been feeling terrible for the lack of updates on any stories or even info on why it's been so long. I will put the link at the end of this message and post it and the message to all my stories on all my sites. Thank you guys for your patience, understanding and support on these stories, seriously I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you guys.

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/rcKeajP7


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